Timepiece construction



April 27, 1937.. R H. WHlTEl-IEAD TIMEPIECE CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 28, 1936 Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIMEPIEOE CONSTRUCTION cut Application September 28, 1936, Serial No. 102,823

5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in timepieces, and more particularly to the caseconstruction portion of timepieces.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved timepiece construction in which the case-body of the timepiece has a piurality of spaced arms integral with the case-body and formed from the metal originally occupying the iocation of the dial-opening.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved timepiece construction in which the case-body of the timepiece has arms integral therewith and adapted to be connected to the back-plate.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved timepiece construction in which the case-body of the timepiece has a plurality of spaced arms integral therewith and adapted to engage and locate a movement-unit centrally of the dial-opening.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved timepiece construction formed of simple elements readily manufactured and assembled to produce a durable, efficient construction at minimum cost.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art and which are not claimed by me in a separate application.

In the accompanying drawing, in which one way of carrying out the invention is shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. l is front elevation of a timepiece constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the timepiece illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental sectional view on the plane indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4: is a rear perspective View of the casebody of the timepiece; and

Fig. 5 is a rear perspective view of the backplate of the timepiece.

In the description and claims, the various parts are identified by specific names for con venience, but they are intended to be as generic in this application as the prior art will permit.

Referring to the drawing, the timepiece it! includes a case-body H, a movement-unit l2 and a back-plate 53.

The case-body H is preferably of sheet-metal and has four spaced-apart arms l4 which are struck up from the broken-line position M which they originally occupied as part of the sheetmetal which originally occupied the location of the dial-opening iii. A bezel or bezel-ring It may be secured to the front of the case-body H in any suitable way, as, for example, by having 1e integral lugs ii of the bezel-ring bent to engage the inner surface of the ring-portion N3 of the case-body ii.

The movement-unit i2 includes the dial i9, dial mounting-ring 2E3 and movement 2!. The movement 2i includes the movement-plates 22 and 23 and the pillars 24, together with the gearing mechanism and the like (not shown) forming part of the movement.

The movementmnit l2 is located centrally of the dial-opening l5 by engagement with the arms M, the movement-unit being assembled in position in the case-body H by sliding the movement unit from the rear toward the front of the case-body. The back-plate l3 has four inwardly-concaved depressions 25, each with a central hole 25, and also has four inwardly-concaved depressions 2i, each having a slot 28. In assembling the back-plate in position, the holes 26 are passed over the outer ends 2d of the pillars i l and the slots 28 are passed over the reduced locking-extensions 3d of the arms Hi to bring the inner face 33 of each depressed portion 21 into engagement with the supporting-shoulders 32 of each of the arms E i, whereupon each locking-portion 30 is twisted, preferably through approximately a right angle to the adjacent slot 28, to lock the back-plate in position. The bottom projecting portions 38 of the back-plate l3 rest upon the integral pressed-up lugs 34 formed in the feet 35 of the case-body ii.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than that herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are in tended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A timepiece construction comprising: a sheet-metal case-body having a dial-opening cut therein, and a plurality of spaced arms integral with said case-body and formed from the metal originally occupying said dial-opening.

2. A timepiece construction comprising: a sheet-metal case-body having a dial-opening cut therein, and a plurality of spaced arms integral with said case-body and formed from the metal originally occupying said dial-opening, each arm having a support-portion, a relatively-small neck-portion, and a relatively-large distortable locking-head.

3. A timepiece construction comprising: a sheet-metal case-body having a dial-opening cut therein, and a plurality of spaced arms integral with said case-body and formed from the metal originally occupying said dial-opening; and a back-plate supported on and secured to said arms.

4. A timepiece construction comprising: a sheet-metal case-body having a dial-opening cut therein, and a plurality of spaced arms integral with said case-body and formed from the metal originally occupying said dial-opening, each arm having a support-portion, a relatively-small neckportion, and a relatively-large locking-head distortable to locking position; and a back-plate supported on said support-portions and secured to said arms by said locking-heads distorted to locking position.

5. A timepiece construction comprising: a sheet-metal case-body having a dial-opening cut therein, and a plurality of spaced arms integral with said case-body and formed from the metal originally occupying said dial-opening; a movement-unit located centrally of said dial-opening by said arms; and a back-plate supported on and secured to said arms.

RICHARD H. WHITEHEAD. 

